I am so frustrated for the last several months it has been so hard to get an appointmentwith a doctor. I rarely get sick my only reason for seeing my doc is to get refills, it is getting pretty scary when I can’t even get in to do that.
Well atleast you have one…I used to go to the Greene Clinic and for the last while there I had maybe four doctors. Currently I don’t have one and none are accepting any new patients. So my fingers are crossed that I never need one!
Yeah it is bad … in the new year a pharmacist will be able to do refills without the doctor… not sure what the restrictions will be, but this should help a little with the issue of refills… This is only small help…
Doctors are just not attracted to living here.
At least you didn’t live in Mackenzie in the last 7-8 years. Before I moved to Rupert I had 6 different doctors in the span of two years. The pharmacist could recite my history faster than any doctor we had. If you think doctors aren’t attracted to living here, try a teeny town at the end of the highway that got an average of 11 feet of snow per year (more the last year we were there).
That being said I’m not trying to make your problem seem trivial - so far I’ve been lucky here with a doctor, but I do know what a pain in the ass it can be. Are there no doctors taking new patients in town?
It is frustrating. I’ve been using the emergency department
at the hospital as my doctor…sometimes a bit of a wait but any port…
I was at the Greene Clinic as well so I feel the pain of trying to find a doctor.
… and the Doctors are from South Africa and can’t stay for more than a couple years. Add in the mills all shutting down, families moving and the clinic staff rotating 90% a year. That’s how they send your CAT scan back and they FORGET to tell you that you were supposed to go for an operation 16 months ago…
I’ve lived in the Fort 21 years and I can count the number of ppl who survived a heart attack on one hand. Don’t need to even use the thumb…
Unfortunately the only politician with a sensible plan to correct the problem was pooh-pooh’d as an out of touch leftist.
This is a national problem. In Victoria there is only two GPs taking new patients and they are substandare.
In the North and in rural communities it is even worse. I lived in NWT, Hay River, several years ago and they have no doctors, operate on locums that come in for three weeks at a time.
In Grande Prairie I went to to only doctor taking new patients and he told me he would see me three times and then decide whether to take me on as a patient. I thought this was absurd, unethical, and told him to stuff it. Was I supposed to dress up for appointments like it was a job interview? Or were there certain diseases he preferred? Were under the table tips required? Bizarre.
Well, not all of the doctors up there were from South Africa, but a good majority were for sure. Not sure about your couple years theory though - I don’t remember any of SA doctors having to go back to SA; when they left Mackenzie they were usually going to ‘bigger and better’ cities.
yes most of Canada and especially northern Bc have a Dr shortage.
I walked in to 2 ave clinic a few months ago, knowing that none of the Doctors their were not taking new clients, but I knew one of the Doctors; so I just asked him directly if he would take me on.
So know I have a Doctor after 2 years of not having one… 
I don’t know if there’s room, but i got to the large clinic, whenever i call for an appointment i always get in the next day or two, might be an indication that theres room, but like i said I dont actually know.
I got a doctor pretty quickly, and when I need an appointment, it seems to happen quickly, but that might be because I’m a mother with very young children… who knows? I’m not overly pleased with my doctor though, and it sucks that I don’t have a choice. At least he’s good looking. Makes the visits not too horrible.
Yeah I am very lucky to have Dr. H.Greeff and the man is great when I had an emergency he was on duty and he saw that I got what was needed. But he is so busy, he said they are looking at a few new ones.
Justincase when you say looking at new ones are you refering to doctors? Allthough I do have a good doctor the problem is she is trying to run here practise like back east which is phone on a certain morning within the first half hour and pray you get through for an appointment. With that being said I did ask if thshe was going to stay open later like they do but the answer I got was no.
Made an appointment Monday and got in today…guess it’s only certain doctors?
Yes of course that is what I meant, he said that they have been checking out a few new doctors who may be brought in to the community. Good luck with a real doctor.
I also went to the Green Clinic and didnt have a doctor since Dr. Broeker left. However, I know a doctor at the 2nd ave clinic who took us in.
My spouse goes to the Large Clinic and when I phoned to see if the rest of his family could also go they said not at this time. I tried to reason with them, asking them to only take our kids…the answer was still no.
I did hear that they are trying to get more doctors here and will be at the Greene Clinic with Dr. Greefe. So hang tight, hopefully help is on the way.
I lucked out in the fact that I used to see Dr Strauss before she left. Eventhough I hadn’t seen her in over 4 years, my file was transferred over to the 2nd Ave clinic when it opened, and when I finally needed to see a doctor in the last little while, I was able to get in to see one.
One of my friends tried to get her daughter into a doctor here and was told no one was taking on new patients between here and Prince George, so she decided to take her kid to Vancouver instead.
those without Doctors here can go to the hospital to see the Doctor on call in emergency.